Recycling stations for fishing line filling up in Clayton

CLAYTON — Waste fishing line in Clayton has been filling up the town’s four Fishing Line Recycling Stations — a much better spot for it to end up than in the waters of the St. Lawrence River.

According to Chelsea Broughton, outreach coordinator for Save the River, fishing line that ends up in the water is harmful to wildlife.

“It will eventually just break down and wildlife will start to eat it. It will start to clog their intestines, and it will kill them,” Broughton said.

Waste fishing line that doesn’t make it all the way to the water can still be harmful.

“A lot of birds and waterfowl will get tangled up in it on the shorelines, so that is another reason why it is important for anglers to use (recycling stations,)” Broughton said.

The Thousand Islands Association, a binational nonprofit organization whose main focus is the placement and maintenance of shoal markers in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River, began the Fishing Line Recycling Station program in 2021, by placing several recycling stations on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence River.

To expand the program on the United States side of the river, they reached out to Save the River for assistance.

The organizations worked together, and now there are 10 stations along the river on the U.S. side, from Cape Vincent to Chippewa Bay. Clayton’s four stations are located at these four fishing spots in the town: Frink Park, Mary Street Dock, French Creek Marina, and Northern Marina.

Last year, Broughton said they collected five miles worth of fishing line that was recycled. This year, they are well on their way to achieving a similar result.

Broughton, who cleans out the stations every other week during the summer, said, “We put it in a five-gallon bucket, which is already about halfway full.”

Aubrie and Phoenix Fitzgerald, vacationers from San Diego, California, were fishing at Frink Park in Clayton on Thursday. Phoenix said he would “definitely use it,” referring to the fishing line recycling station mounted next to a nearby bench.

“I always get caught on stuff and have to cut the line, so it would be good to have somewhere to put it,” Phoenix said.

The fishing line collected by Save the River is sent to Berkley, a fishing product company based in Spirit Lake, Iowa, that also runs a fishing line and spool recycling program. Their website states: “Since 1990, the Berkley Conservation Institute, with the help of anglers everywhere, has recycled more than 9 million miles worth of fishing line. That’s enough line to fill two reels for every angler in America.”

Whether they realize it or not, the anglers who dropped line into the recycling stations in Clayton this season have contributed to a small portion of the line on a future angler’s reel.

Johnson Newspapers 7.1

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